


The Little Things

by Chisotahn



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-01
Updated: 2012-08-01
Packaged: 2017-11-11 05:47:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/475182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chisotahn/pseuds/Chisotahn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Souji and Yosuke discuss birthdays and, later, celebrate Yosuke's own. Sometimes it's the little things that matter most. </p>
<p>Spoilers for the good ending and the Tower s-link, of all things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Little Things

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was originally written for Yosuke's birthday (in 2009), and posted to the badbadbathhouse kink meme on LiveJournal in response to the prompt for such things. It went up a bit late, but hey, it's fluffy and cute and full of banter. 
> 
> Thanks as always to Frigoris for her invaluable beta assistance.

**September 13, 2011**

Yosuke was still standing outside Shu's house when Souji emerged; he was fiddling with his bike, crouched on the sidewalk and poking at the bike chain. He glanced up quickly at the sound of footsteps, then grinned and wiped the grease off his fingertips as he stood up. "Hey."

Souji raised one eyebrow at him. "What're you still doing here? I thought everyone already went home."

"Heh, well, you know how it is," Yosuke said, casually. "Damn bicycle's so messed up, the chain slipped, you know the drill. Teddie has the early shift at Junes tomorrow, so I just sent him home with the others."

"Uh-huh." Souji looked amused. "Wanted to catch me alone, huh?"

"No! Uh." Yosuke quickly glanced down at his bike and kicked at the front wheel. "This thing really is a piece of crap, anyway. I could probably tell people that it fell apart under me on the way to school and they'd believe me. Um. Well, since you're here, and I'm here, you want a ride?"

"After you just finished telling me what a deathtrap your bike is? No way. I'm not even sure I should let you ride it."

"Sheesh." Yosuke rolled his eyes and put one hand on the bike's handlebars, though he made no move to actually get on. "Fine, we'll walk, even though I have this _fine_ example of cycling technology." As he shifted the bike forward, though, the chain made a genuine _crunch_ that made Yosuke wince. "Ugh, hang on a second."

As Yosuke bent down to poke crossly at the offending chain, Souji glanced back at the house they'd just left. There was still a light on in one of the top floor rooms. "That party meant a lot to Shu, I think," Souji sighed. "I hope he'll be okay."

"He seemed pretty down on himself," Yosuke said, frowning slightly as he shifted the pedals forward; the chain clicked back into place, and he straightened up again with a shake of his head. "Not that I know the kid at all, but..."

"He's been under a lot of pressure lately. When you put all your self-worth on one thing, and that one thing breaks..." Souji glanced up at the lit window again; the light clicked off as they watched. "But I think the party helped a little." He looked at Yosuke. "Thanks for getting that together. It means a lot, and not just to Shu."

"Oh, well-" Yosuke rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, vaguely embarrassed. "I didn't do a whole lot, just called people and grabbed a cake from the grocery section. No big deal."

"It was awfully short notice, though," Souji pointed out, taking a few steps down the street.

"Heh, if it'd been you in my place, I bet you would have shown up with a homemade cake and a parade," Yosuke said, trying to sound dismissive as he caught up to Souji, wheeling his bike. "It's no big deal, dude, seriously. You know I've got your back."

"Yeah, I do," Souji said with a grateful smile.

"Yeah, well... that's... that's good."

Souji just laughed, and they walked along in companionable silence for a few minutes, the only sounds the distant chirp of insects and the quiet squeak of Yosuke's bike. When they reached the next corner, though, Souji glanced at Yosuke with a thoughtful expression. "Speaking of birthdays, I don't think I know when your birthday is."

"Huh? Oh... it's back in June, dude. The twenty-second."

"Really?" Souji looked bemused. "But you didn't say anything about it at the time."

"Not really... but there was a lot going on, remember? I was really excited about meeting Risett- uh, Rise, and we had to warn her about the killer and stuff, and..." Yosuke gave Souji a sheepish look. "It just didn't seem that important at the time. Anyway, it's not like my family did a whole lot either."

"Still, I'm sorry I missed it," Souji said, shaking his head.

"Dude, it's fine. Birthdays haven't been really important since I was Shu's age."

"I bet you were a cute kid," Souji said, with a teasing grin.

"Ugh. No way, man - my hair stuck up all over the place, and I know what you're thinking and you can shut up," Yosuke added, ducking as Souji reached out one hand in an attempt to ruffle Yosuke's hair. "It does _not_ stick up now. Not like it did then, anyway."

"Fine, fine." Souji made a show of tucking his hands back in his pockets. "My point stands, though."

"Hmph, like you'd know. I was a brat, anyway - don't say anything, I mean it." He glanced at Souji, who just grinned. "I think I invited everyone to the local Junes that year - Dad pulled a few strings with the manager, and we got a special Featherman show. Like the ones we have here, only tweaked for my birthday. It was kinda cool, I guess."

"Hey, I would have been crazy about that when I was a kid. I still get tons of it from the kids at the day care - if you don't know the latest Featherman R move, you're toast." Souji chuckled and shook his head.

Yosuke tried to picture Souji as crazy about _anything_ , and had to fight the urge to laugh. "Yeah, I used to love it too. I had Featherman _everything_ \- all the DVDs, all the little figures... I saved up once and got one of the fancy transforming mechas."

"Oh, man, I forget the name... the big red one with the extending wings?"

"Yeah, that's the one!" Yosuke grinned broadly. "Man, I loved that thing. But the _best_ was this one huge book I had - it had _all_ the third series manga in it, all bound up in one volume. I read that thing to pieces, literally."

" _You_ read a book to pieces? I don't believe it," Souji declared.

Yosuke made a face. "Hey, I'm not a total washout, alright? I read. Sometimes. I'd show you the evidence except my mom chucked it when we moved here. Thought it was trash, or something. Heh, I was actually kind of pissed at her. I _really_ liked that thing- uh." Souji was doing that amused smirk thing again, damn him. "A-anyway, you can't talk - _you've_ got that stupid Witch Detective book in your room. _And_ those models," Yosuke added, going on the offensive.

"Hey, that particular book was Daisuke's fault," Souji replied, apparently unruffled.

"Mmhm. And whose fault was it that I caught you _reading_ it?" Yosuke elbowed Souji with a sly grin. "Explain that one, partner."

They were almost to the turn-off for Yosuke's house, now, and Souji paused on the corner. The streetlight was out, and his expression was unreadable in the darkness. "It's a mystery for the ages."

Yosuke gave him a skeptical look. Souji held the deadpan look for a few more seconds before he started to laugh; after a moment, Yosuke joined him.

 

**June 22, 2012**

Yosuke woke up that morning with a vague sense of dread lurking in the pit of his stomach. He crept out of his futon as quietly as he could, walked over to the door on tip-toe, and opened it with _just_ the right amount of pressure on the knob so it wouldn't sque-

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!"

Yosuke jumped backwards, tripped over his school bag, and slammed into the desk. "Ow! _Damnit_ , Ted-" Once he regained his balance, he directed a death glare at the cheerful, sparkling figure in the doorway - the stupid bear had to have been lurking right outside the door, lying in wait to ambush him. _Damn_ Chie for letting his birthday slip-

"But it's your _birthday_ , Yosuke," Teddie said with boundless enthusiasm, adjusting his brightly colored party hat. "It only happens once a year!"

"Thank god for that," Yosuke groaned, wincing as he pushed away from the desk. "Geez..."

Fortunately, Teddie did seem to have _some_ restraint - or, more likely, had been talked out of his grandiose plans by someone more sane. Other than the obnoxiously cheerful balloon tied to the back of his bicycle, the school day was refreshingly free of birthday plotting, though Chie teased him about twitching every time someone opened the door to the rooftop at lunch. The rest of the group kept their involvement to wishing him happy birthday, much to Yosuke's relief - if they'd bought into Teddie's crazy ideas, he'd have never lived it down.

Still, Yosuke couldn't help but be a tiny bit suspicious as he biked home, the balloon bobbing and twisting behind him; he couldn't quite bring himself to pop the thing, and it _had_ been kinda nice. Other than the morning ambush, Teddie had shown remarkable restraint.

When Yosuke got home, he immediately checked behind the couch and under the tables just in case; he wasn't sure to be relieved or faintly disappointed when he found absolutely nothing and no one. Absolutely nothing, that is, until he went up to his room and and spotted the package on his desk.

It was utterly unremarkable, wrapped in ordinary brown paper and surprisingly heavy for its size, but Yosuke grinned when he saw the address label. He'd recognize Souji's handwriting anywhere, even without the return address - since Souji had moved away last spring, he'd sent Yosuke a few paper letters in addition to calling, despite Yosuke's protests that things like e-mail existed. He quickly sat down and tore off the wrapping. To his surprise, there was a note on top of the box, taped over the flaps so there was no way he could open them without reading the note.

_Don't open this without calling me first._

_Seriously, don't._

Yosuke blinked at it, bemused, then dug out his phone. Souji picked up on the third ring, but Yosuke didn't even give him a chance to say hello. "Okay, dude, what's up with the box?"

Souji laughed. "Hello to you, too."

"Oh, come on, tell me - what's so important that I had to call you first?" Yosuke fumbled for a pair of scissors with his free hand. "Spill it, or the box gets it."

"I just want to know what you think of your birthday present, that's all," Souji replied; Yosuke could practically hear the amused grin in his best friend's voice. "Did Teddie scare you this morning?"

Yosuke made a face. "Okay, how'd you know about that? Are you in cahoots with him?"

"Hardly. In fact, I believe you owe me thanks for talking him out of a whole lot of things. Enough balloons tied to your bike that you could've _flown_ to school, for starters..."

"Oh, man, I really do owe you one," Yosuke groaned. "I figured someone had to be the voice of reason. Figures it was you."

"I have a lot of experience," Souji said, deadpan. "Are you going to open your present or not?"

"Okay, okay, geez - hang on a second." Yosuke tore the note off of the box flaps, then fumbled with the scissors until he managed to get a clean cut. A few sharp tugs tore the tape free, and he fished out several handfuls of crumpled paper. "Dude, what the hell is this, anyway?"

"What, you don't like paper? I thought it was a perfect gift."

"Ha, ha." Yosuke's fingers bumped something solid, and he tilted his head to try and see what it was. "Huh, what-"

He stopped talking as he caught sight of a _very_ familiar, colorful cover. Yosuke could just barely get his fingers around the book and lift it free from the box - it was used, very slightly dog-eared, but that didn't matter. "The complete third series Featherman manga... _seriously?_ "

"Hey, you said you missed having one. That particular edition is a little hard to find, but there's a fantastic used bookstore here - and when I saw it, well..." Souji chuckled. "What do you think?"

"I think you're _crazy_ ," Yosuke said, after a moment; he flipped the book open at random and couldn't help but grin at the familiar scenes inside. "When the hell did I even tell you about this?"

"After you helped me out with Shu's birthday party," Souji replied. "You walked home with me, remember?"

Yosuke's forehead furrowed in thought. "I... dude, that was last year! How the hell did you remember that? Geez, Souji..." He started to laugh. "You remember the dumbest things."

"It isn't dumb," Souji said. "You're important to me, after all."

"I..." Yosuke tried to think of a good response to that, grateful that Souji couldn't see the blush creeping over his face.

"I'm glad you like it," Souji continued, sounding pleased.

"Yeah, I do... thanks, partner," Yosuke said, flipping through a few more pages, unable to get the dumb grin off of his face. "You're still crazy, though. So when are you going to give me some dirt on your childhood so I can get you back?"

Souji laughed. "I'm not sure I want to give you that kind of ammunition. Could be dangerous."

"If you don't, I'll be forced to default to Witch Detective," Yosuke teased, then leaned back in his chair. "Um. Seriously, though... thanks."

"Any time, partner. Happy birthday," Souji said, and Yosuke smiled.


End file.
